Welcome to The Pipeline.

Some of you may be familiar with Stu Heinecke, a Hall-of-fame-nominated marketer and Wall Street Journal cartoonist, see example above. Last year I had the opportunity to speak with Stu while he was working on his book “How to Get a Meeting with Anyone”. More recently I joined Stu, for extended conversation on not just on how to get a meeting with right prospect, how to position and extend initial engagement. This was part of a podcast series Stu has been producing. Have a listen, and more importantly, let us know your thoughts.

Those of you have kept or keep diaries, know that one of the reasons it has such great value is not just because you open up about intimate secrets, but that you share everything, not just the good, not just the bad, but all that and everything in between. You were able to go back and relive the experience, and more often than not glean lesson and things you would do differently if you had to do them all again. You didn’t just look at what you did well, or things that turned out to be good, living up to and beyond your expectations. You looked at the bad things that happened and tried to understand how you might avoid similar things in the future. The more honest you were the more rewarding the experience. If you skewed or slanted things one way, you may feel better for a while, but reality comes creeping back in, forcing us to deal with the bad, and the gray.

Sales people and sales organization need to keep a diary of their experiences, all of them, the good, the bad, and the in between. Most already do deal reviews in some format, but many do not, either choosing to them selectively, or just enough to satisfy a KPI or ScoreCard requirement. Few do the real deep dive required in order to get the most out of it, in the process allowing both a learning and revenue improvement get away. To be clear, and as you will see further on, “deep dive” does not have to be a laborious time consuming exercise with minimal payoffs, it can and should be an ongoing process that helps you with deals you are currently involved in, while also allowing you to capture and repurpose things on the fly. Done right, it should resemble the old EDS add about building an airplane while it is flying, the opportunity for sales people and organizations, is to build a continuously better sales, even as they are executing current sales, and prospecting for their next one.

Specifically this involves reviewing all deals you were involved in, those you won, those you lost, and those which go to “no decision”. Note, if you are involved in ten to a dozen deal a month, I recommend you review all of them; if on the other hand you are involved in dozens of deals, you may want to review a representative sample. If you have 7 wins, 15 losses, and 6 no decisions, review 25%, or seven, and you will get good, executable output. But as you’ll see, even if you don’t formally review each one, you will produce usable output.

Now some of you reading this may be aware that I am the coauthor of an award winning book about Trigger Events. In that book the recommendation was that you focus your reviews to only those deals you win. This will allow you to continuously repeat those things that are consistently help you win deals. Sound thinking, to a point. Let me explain, coauthoring a book is a lesson in compromise, you give you, you learn, you take, and in the end you produce a book that reflects the learning of both. But as you move on, the hope is that both authors evolve, not limited by the required compromises, and we each continue down our path, shaped by or experiences.

Since the release of that book, my thinking has evolved to where I see focusing strictly on one segment of your activities and only one of many outcomes, brings an unnecessary level of risk to one’s sales success, regardless of which one of the three possible outcomes you focus on. Given that on average, wins make up less than half of potential deals, if for no other reason than to broaden you perspectives, you should review outcomes other than just wins.

This is why the 360 Deal View was developed. It allows you to capture relevant information about the sale, the outcome and specific contributors to that. As with most tools, it is less about the tool itself, and much more about the approach and behaviours it promotes, which in turn lead to the desired results in more repeatable, predictable and consistent ways. It allows you to evolve you selling along with the way your market and buyers evolve.

While there is no denying that you want to know exactly what you are doing that is helping you win, you want to know what unfolded on the buyer’s side that prompted them to engage, and what outside and inside factors accelerate your sales cycle or cause it to slow and stall. What were the buyer’s objectives that allowed you to gain traction, and how you were able to connect with those? All important things you want to leverage. But it would be dangerous if not naïve to not go through a similar exercise with the other outcomes, losses and “no decisions”. Two simple advantageous to knowing why you lose, first, it may just take a small adjustment to change some of the inputs that will move a loss to the won column. Second, you may discover that a segment that made sense on initial exploration made sense to pursue, based on practice does not. Looking at “no decisions” will often allow you to understand when would be the best time to reengage, and take the cycle to fruition. It will also help you detect tire kickers a lot earlier.

These will be fallouts if you only review wins, but there is no denying that focusing on just one area, will lead to tunnel vision, causing you to miss changing trends that are more evident in the other categories, and more importantly, leave you very open to be blindsided. If you rely on one set of data, you will continue to find others who fit the mold, but it does not speak to the size of a market, things can continue to look good in a shrinking market, and by the time you react, many opportunities will have been missed, and competitors will have made unnecessary gains at your expense.

Most CRM’s and related apps will allow you to do a complete all three, and even allow you to get more granular if need be. You can download our tool here, but the key to success is not the tool, but the philosophy, and more specifically the discipline of doing it in up, down, or sideways markets. Just as with a diary, the best ones were usually written in simple notebooks, not fancy specially diaries, what made them great was the depth and completeness of what was captured, and the consistency of execution.

All this week I have posted clips from a recent interview with Ago Cluytens, for his Coaching Masters Series. We dealt with a number of issues around selling to buyers who are traditionally referred to as being Status Quo. Being the weekend, I thought it a good time to post the whole interview for your weekend lounging pleasure.

Always interested in what you think, and whether you are more prepared to go forth and sell where many sellers and pundits fear to go. Take a look, and let me know.

Today I feature the third excerpt from my discussion with Ago Cluytens, for one his Coaching Masters Series interviews. Today we look at the roles played risk and emotion in getting buyers to not only react, but act.

In Monday’s clip, I talked about the fact that you don’t need to waste time in waiting for an event to engage with a potential buyer, what you are looking for is the reaction, not the event. Two things that get reactions every time are risk and emotion.

But while it is true that buyers buy on emotion and the rationalize that decision, it is also true that there are other factors such as risk, stories, sounds, and other factors a seller can leverage to get a buyer to react and more importantly to act. It is easy to get a ready buyer to react and act, but you need to use many things to get a complacent buyer to engage, react and act.

Monday I shared a clip from a discussion with Ago Cluytens, for one his Coaching Masters Series. Today’s second clip looks at the need to be provocative in gaining traction with entrenched potential buyers.

The challenge many of in sales face is the entrenched buyer who is reluctant to look at new or alternative means of achieving his/her goals. This is usually due to the fact that they are entrenched in how they are doing things now, feels there are too many resources needed to make a change, and a host of other reasons. In order to get engagement, we need to demonstrate the results we can deliver and the positive and measurable impact we will directly deliver to their business and attaining their goals. In a WIIFM world it is about the What, not how of how they get there.

A few weeks back I had the opportunity to sit down with Ago Cluytens, for one his Coaching Masters Series interviews. All this week, the posts will feature snippets of the interview, below we will also tell you where you can find the whole interview, but now let’s go to the first extract.

Trigger Events are fine, but there is no escaping that you have to wait for the “event”. But here’s the deal, what you are leveraging is not the event, but the buyer’s reaction to the event. So why not take the training wheels off, forget the “event”, and learn to trigger the reaction without having to wait, with the others looking for the same sign.

One common objection sales people face when making prospecting calls, is when the potentially prospect says “now is not the right time”. While timing is important, and understanding how specific triggers can help improve your timing, the fact remains that perfecting your timing will only help you in a very (very very) small way, in a very narrow part of you potential prospect segment. Here is why.

Timing is only important with two buyer groups, Passive, those who have realized the Status Quo no longer meets their requirements, and have decided to learn or check out “what’s out there”. Not actively looking, but getting feelers out, looking at some web sites, information, getting acclimatized, hence Passive. The other group are those Active buyers who have decided to buy, even what to buy, is now just down to where and from whom; this is where the order takers thrive. But together these two groups are a small part of the market, maybe 30%, but the remaining 70%, the Status Quo, timing, will by definition always be off. As a result, you have two choices, the popular choice for many whose business cards say Sales Representative, is to avoid prospecting and fully engaging with these potential buyers; taking the advice of some questionable experts who will encourage them to “nurture”. “After some nurturing, when they are ready, they will call you, since you stuck with them.” OK

So if you want to really change the outcome, read make more sales and generate more revenue, you need to work on the Status Quo, the 70% where you will always be too early, the 70% where other fear to tread.

The reality of timing is it will ALWAYS be either too Late or too Soon. If they are Passive or Active buyers, it will always be too late, and if they are in Status Quo, it will always be too early, because they do not perceive a “need”, until something changes and it needs to be NOW.

That being said, it is not as difficult to overcome the challenge as some will make you believe. First resolve to engage the entire market, including those currently removed from the market. Because you not only know that their circumstance will change, and what may seem too early becomes, “I need it now”, but given your experience you know what is likely to be the catalyst for that change, the challenges they will face and the solution they will need to resolve it.

How? By studying and understanding what led to that moment in the past with existing clients, prospects, and deals that did not go your way. Once you know this, by tracking deals you’ve won, lost and those that ended in no decision. You will understand what events led up to and caused the change, with that you can prepare, position and act. It takes work, sometimes boring work, but with the right tools, and right approach, you can take timing and turn it your way.

By studying past outcomes and inputs, you can take proactive steps to ensure that you don’t enter the fray too late, and always capitalize on opportunities other sales people and prospects will say is too soon.

It is never the right time if you relinquish control, and always the right time if you are willing to put in the work, and ask, “is it ever the right time?”

Just before the holidays I was invited to sit down with David Wojcik of “In Business” to talk about sales, specifically about the content of the book I co-authored on trigger events. I found it interesting in a number of ways, especially since David is not in sales. He focused on different areas than some sales people do when discussing the book.

httpvh://youtu.be/Dm-QS7C_iWk

I was also able to relate to a musician friend who always finds it difficult talking about his last CD. While the CD discussed in interviews may be the most current available in the market, he is usually focused on his current project, which is the next release. Being more than half way in my current book, it was interesting going back to concepts that were current two years ago; also interesting to see how ones thinking on sales progresses. It was rewarding for me, you be the judge when the book is released.

When trigger events occur, they represent a unique moment in time for you and the buyer to establish a trusted relationship. This unique moment in time may be one that may never occur again. The question is: are you ready when this moment in time actually happens?

There is a high degree of importance in being ready for trigger events. These events, as articulated by Craig Elias and Tibor Shanto, not only offer sales opportunities but offer the opportunity to create buyer experiences that can result in long-term loyalty. Ultimately, while the end goal in responding to a trigger event is a sale, the ability to establish a long-term relationship will hinge largely on the experiences a buyer has during the response. There are several ways you can be ready to turn trigger events into buyer experiences that keep buyers calling you when trigger events occur:

Buyer Intelligence

How much do you really know about your potential buyer’s organization when a trigger event occurs? Buyers today have high expectations and one of those is the expectation that you are already grounded in knowing something about them. If they are on your target list, are you keeping up with alerts on the events that are occurring with this buyer’s organization? More importantly, are you aware of the events leading up to a trigger event? Demonstrating intelligence about their organization translates into exceptional buyer experiences. Why? Because trigger events are fraught with emotions and one thing a buyer is seeking is confidence that the situation is going to end in a resolution. Knowledge breeds confidence.

Buyer Persona

How well do you know your buyer persona? A buyer persona is an archetypal representation of your buyers that is derived from qualitative research. Buyer personas are a means for encapsulating a deep understanding of buyer goals that directly influence purchase decisions. As a sale executive, have you supported your teams with a fundamental understanding of who your buyers are and what goals drive their responses and decisions? The ability to address buyer goals responsively during a trigger event is paramount to the buyer having an exceptional buyer experience.

Buyer Learning

There is a good bet that a buyer and his team may be facing a trigger event situation for the first time or it has been a good length of time since a previous event had occurred. Sharing knowledge and providing a learning opportunity for buyers gets you a seat at the table of trusted advisors. How prepared are you to share how similar customers have resolved similar situations? What type of content and documents do you have prepared to share that are specific to trigger events? A trigger event is time to go “off messaging” and to demonstrate your role as a trusted advisor with substance. Enable an exceptional buyer experience by providing your buyers with learning opportunities that they will want to share with their peers.

Buyer Stakeholders

In most circumstances, a buyer is the focal point that represents various stakeholder groups within an organization. You can be sure that the buyer has these groups on his or her mind during a trigger event. How much are they on your mind? All eyes are on the buyer by these various stakeholder groups during a trigger event. And all eyes are on you as well. They are looking for a solution to what may be a very challenging situation or perhaps are in crisis mode. Are you prepared to address how your role and your solution address various stakeholder groups? Are you gaining access to such groups to understanding the impact of the trigger event in their area? Understanding and addressing stakeholder concerns provides opportunities for exceptional buyer experiences to be shared enterprise-wide.

To succeed with trigger events requires a high degree of readiness. It is the degree of readiness that plays a pivotal role in turning trigger events into exceptional buyer experiences. As mentioned at the start of this article, trigger events represents a unique moment in time that perhaps may never occur again. You may have only one opportunity to demonstrate your ability to be seen as a trusted advisor and to provide an exceptional buyer experience. Are you ready?

About Tony Zambito

Tony Zambito is Founder and Principal of Goal Centric, a buyer strategy consulting firm. Goal Centric is also the originator of the buyer persona methodology. Tony is launching BUYEROLOGY™ as a new means of understanding buyer behavior. Tony also served in the role of Vice President in Sales and Marketing capacities for TRW, Knight-Ridder, and Compaq (HP). He holds a B.S. in Business and an M.B.A. in Marketing Management. Read Tony’s blog Buyerology Now for insightful commentary on changing buyer behavior.

Over the last few weeks the video posts have dealt with some of the challenges around prospecting by phone and reaching potential prospects. We looked at the role of voice mail, e-mail, and alternative means of communication we can use to proactively reach people we want to engage. The goal is to avoid waiting for external events to trigger engagement, to connect with buyers ahead of other sellers and before a specific event puts them in the market. Taking a proactive approach in triggering engagement.

Today we look at what you need to do when you do in fact connect with the target of your call. How to initiate the conversation, what to avoid, and how to deal with the inevitable objections.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWKtqKdZ2n0

As always, I encourage you to be proactive, not wait for events, and manage your own success.

About us

Tibor Shanto is a 25-year veteran of B2B sales, Tibor has developed an insider’s hands on perspective of successful sales execution. Called a brilliant sales tactician Tibor shows organizations and sales professionals how to leverage their sales process to shorten sales cycles, increase close ratios, and create double digit growth through execution and using the right combination strategy, tools, metrics, tactical execution of the sales process.